Miele Washing Machine Fault - I'm Baffled...

SaabmanBOF · 26 Oct 2018 at 14:41

I have a Miele W304 washing machine, and the drain pump is now only pushing out a small amount of water. Apart from that, the machine works perfectly, but of course, the pump isn't draining enough water out, so it times out.

ALL the drains and hoses, inside the machine and external, are completely clear. So are the pump housing chambers and filter. The impeller is undamaged, and the pump spins under power when it should, so obviously there's nothing wrong... Except that it's only passing a little water.

I can't think of anything other than that the pump is partially seized and not running at the correct speed; does anybody have any other ideas?

jpaul · 26 Oct 2018 at 14:59

sounds like the water level sensor .. is it clogged up .. mine was like a transluscent tube with an electro-mechanical actuator (I can't remember exactly.)

SaabmanBOF · 26 Oct 2018 at 17:22

I don't think a dodgy water level sensor would affect the flow from the pump when it was running, and it does run. I've ordered a new pump - they're only £30 - and I'll see what that does when it arrives. In case it doesn't fix it, I've booked a Miele engineer's visit for next Thursday anyway, just in case.

Mr.Cookie · 27 Oct 2018 at 10:17

have you checked tub to sump hose, sometimes machine have something like a ball in a snorkel (stops detergent getting wasted) these can stick or block.

Do you use colour catchers?

jpaul · 27 Oct 2018 at 11:58

SaabmanBOF said:
I don't think a dodgy water level sensor would affect the flow from the pump when it was running, and it does run.

OK - as you had initially said 'spins under power when it should' ...I had wrongly thought it might just be the last dregs it had problems draining, so cutoff point was premature.

... some kind of syphon effect on the waste tube ... did you run it into a bucket. ?

I guess you will find out if the resistance on the new motor is immediately different to the predecessor

SaabmanBOF · 27 Oct 2018 at 16:43

When the pump stops, I can drain the water out by undoing the fluff filter, and it flows normally; there's no blockage.

When the problem first occurred, I ran the waste hose out of the back door on to the patio to see if the drain was blocked. It made no difference at all.

I've got the pump off the machine, and it certainly doesn't feel as though it's partially seized. If the new motor doesn't solve the problem, I'll let the service engineer at it. I know there's no blockage, and with a new pump, the obvious diagnosis is already done; the only possibility I can think of would be reduced voltage to the pump. He'll certainly know more about the machine than I do, and may know exactly what the fault must be.

Mr.Cookie · 27 Oct 2018 at 17:10

What can happen is the pump running causes the hose to buckle on itself, when you drain manually it's fine.

SaabmanBOF · 31 Oct 2018 at 19:33

Predictably, the new pump made little difference, except that I know it's not the the pump that is the problem.

Mr. Cookie, thank you; that hadn't occurred to me. I put about five litres of water in the drum and ran it on drain, but it's still only coming out quite slowly. The hose from drum to pump is quite short and large-bore, but I'm baffled anyway, so I'll try it again, and see what the hose is doing when the pump runs. It's gotta be bloody something...

jpaul · 31 Oct 2018 at 20:19

if you can find the circuit diagram on the likes of these sites
MIELE W753 W755 W451 W754 W486 Service Manual download, schematics, eeprom, repair info for electronics experts

that may say if the pump speed could be modulated fast/slow - as a function of a sensor, say ...or what caps on circuit board might be implicated
measure pump voltage during operation ? .....

are there no washing machine engineers on OC

Telecaster · 1 Nov 2018 at 20:23

Have you definitely ruled out a blockage before the pump?

£15 · 4 Nov 2018 at 19:27

Did the engineer come out? I ask as I'm curious to know if you opted for, or were even offered, their 'Platinum Care'? Which I think is very wise considering their labour charges!

My machine was on it's way out (suspected bearing failure), so I contacted them asking for a quote. The first response

The repair kit for the bearings is £92.99 before VAT.

Usually a bearings change, is a 3-4 hour job, a call out is £125, which includes the first hour, additional hours are £75.

It may also require 2 people.

Dependant on age, the engineers might deem the appliance beyond repair.

I pushed them a little on price and they came back with this:

As long as we haven’t so far been out to confirm the fault I can offer you Platinum Care which is £249 for parts and labour on the visit. Platinum Care also covers the appliance for a further 12 months for any mechanical and electrical faults you may encounter.

I had hoped to get a few more months/weeks out of the machine what with Black Friday on the horizon, but it proper packed in a couple of days ago. Machine turned itself off, error messages and drum seized. Sounded awful. It just about turns by hand, but feels/sounds like a bag of spanners and is wonky.

I've had the machine over 12 years, so I think I'm going to call it quits and buy a new one with another 10yr warranty.

jpaul · 4 Nov 2018 at 22:26

BadMojo said:
The repair kit for the bearings is £92.99 before VAT.

Click to expand...

That's a lot, big markup, 2skf bearings and nitrile rubber seals about £20 for a swedish top load Asko machine,
problem is finding the service manuals, and then, you often need jigs, to contemplate doing it yourself.

Ideally they could take the machine away, give a loaner, and fix it in a proper workshop;
for machines of Miele quality, often used in commercial applications, there are companies that do refurbish them (Ispwich has one) and i might try and engage one of them.

Grimley · 5 Nov 2018 at 19:09

jpaul said:
For machines of Miele quality, often used in commercial applications, there are companies that do refurbish them (Ispwich has one) and i might try and engage one of them.

Not Hughes or Stellisons by any chance? More likely to be Stellisons TBH. Their HQ is not that far away from me, been around for donkeys years & have a pretty good reputation. I used to work for a competitor of theirs before it ceased trading & tried to get a job with them many years ago before I walked away from retailing. Ironic that I need to buy some appliances soon so I may well be paying them a visit.

bartledvd · 5 Nov 2018 at 20:52

Had a similar problem on a different brand but it was a 10p coin stuck in a pipe, machine worked fine just stupidly slow to drain i thought pump might have gone also but started removing any parts i could to test continuity and found the coin right in the middle of a pipe.

SaabmanBOF · 13 Feb 2019 at 20:29

Yes, I took the Platinum Care. The problem turned out to be nothing more than a build-up of limescale in the drain hose... which I had loosened by doing the 90 degree empty machine wash cycle using the Miele detergent!

As the engineer admitted, the problem could have been solved by just bashing the drain hose around a bit and getting the scale out... However, I needed a new door seal, so he replaced that as well as the drain hose. I could have saved myself a couple of hundred pounds if I'd known, but all is well now anyway.

Thank you, one and all; got there in the end.

DXP55 · 14 Feb 2019 at 09:53

I feel your pain -My washing machine had a leak - found it was leaking by doing a routine filter clean - couldn't see anything so as it was 10 yrs old I just replaced it - Got it outside and stripped it for anything useful and still never found any obvious sign of a leak except for the rusty case.

Glad I never messed about.